Portland, ME –The Reading Royals (4-8-1-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, defeated the Maine Mariners (4-8-0-0), 4-3, on Friday, November 24 at Cross Insurance Arena. Nolan Maier (2-4-0-1) earned his second win of the season with Reading with 31 saves on 34 shots faced. Shane Starrett (3-6-0-0) suffered the loss in net for Maine with 21 saves on 25 shots faced.
Maier made a diving save to keep Maine off the board late in the first period. Two minutes after the save, at 17:09 into the first period, Matt Brown beat Starrett with a wrist shot on a breakaway for the game’s opening goal. Yvan Mongo and Joseph Nardi earned the helpers on Brown’s first of two goals in the game.
Maier made a diving save to keep Maine off the board late in the first period. Two minutes after the save, at 17:09 into the first period, Matt Brown beat Starrett with a wrist shot on a breakaway for the game’s opening goal. Mongo and Joseph Nardi earned the helpers on Brown’s first of two goals in the game.
Maine evened the score, 1-1, 8:10 into the second period on Ethan Ritchie’s first professional career goal. Ritchie buried a rebound on Ethan Keppen’s shot from the point that kicked off of Maier’s pad to the rookie forward.
Brown put Reading back in front with his second goal of the night 13:19 into the middle frame. The goal secured Brown’s first multi-goal game of his professional career. Yvan Mongo earned the assist for his fourth multi-point game of the season.
The Mariners tied the score for the second and final time in the game 16:42 into the period on Gabe Guertler’s first goal of the season. Jimmy Lambert and Brooklyn Kalmikov earned the assists on the tape-to-tape passing around Maier’s net for Guertler’s redirection through the five hole of the netminder.
Heading into the third period, at 4:56, Alec Butcher tapped in a loose puck past Starrett. He followed up his first goal of the game with his second seven minutes later to put Reading up by two with 8:13 left in regulation.
Maine defenseman Gabriel Chicoine brought the game back to a one-goal game with his third goal of the season with 7:09 remaining in the third period. The Royals held onto their one-goal lead to capture their first win on the road (1-6-1-0) and take the season series opener over the Mariners.
The Royals conclude their road trip against the Maine Mariners on Saturday, November 25th, at 6:00 PM at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine.
The Royals return home on Thursday, November 30 to host the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:00 PM at Santander Arena. The home game will be a Throwback Thursday promotional game with music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s playing through the night! To order tickets to our Throwback Thursday game, visit royalshockey.com/tickets
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2023-24 Season Memberships
Reading Royals Season Memberships, six-game plans, ten-game plans, and group tickets are available for the 2023-24 season now by visiting the Royals’ box office at Santander Arena or by calling 610-898-7825.
About the Royals
The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, are in their 22nd season in the ECHL. They won their first Kelly Cup championship in 2013 and have clinched playoff berths in 12 of the previous 13 seasons. They are five-time division champions and were the 2021-22 Eastern Conference champion. The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA), founded in 1996, owns the Royals and oversees operations at Santander Arena.
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